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CHAPTER28
Evie
What the hell am I doing out here on a Friday night?
I look around, shivering despite the thick, woolly blanket draped over my knees. The bleachers are packed with students. Everyone’s cheering and waving around giant foam fingers like this is the damned Superbowl.
If it wasn’t for the lack of parents and other townsfolk, I could almost believe thiswasPinecrest’s version of the Superbowl.
That, or this college has a grade-A pep rally team.
If there was a pep rally, I wasn’t invited.
Maybe they knew I wasn’t into sports. I watch the bulked-up football players running, dodging, and tossing a ball around on the brightly lit field… and I feel nothing.
Well, other than bored to death.
I should have brought a book or something. But it was this or stay alone at the Walsh House… and I wasn’t going to risk it when I heard Owen wasn’t coming.
It’s been like that for a whole week—the two of us actively avoiding each other. I can’t remember who did it first, but it started when one of us turned around and went the other way down a hall on campus. Since then, we’ve been dodging each other like pros.
Dodge-freak. Now that’s a sport I can get into.
Kat’s sharp elbow almost ruptures my kidney, making me groan softly with the ache at my side. “Here!” she yells over the screaming crowds. “Takes the edge off!”
She’s snuggling in beside me under the same blanket, but instead of us warming each other up, it feels like her cold body is chilling mine. No wonder she keeps sipping at her glitter-coated hip flask.
I take a swig, grimace, and take another before handing it back. I don’t ask what the brandy is supposed to diffuse—the cold, the noise, or the boredom. But hey, I guess it works pretty well on all levels, because after another few sips, I can’t feel my feet anymore.
I can thank either the brandy, or frostbite.
Ada sits next to Kat keeping up a continuous conversation about something I can’t make out, leaving me to chat with Willow beside me. She’s watching the game with such intensity I’m starting to wonder if she’s writing a research paper on football or something.
“Are we winning?” I ask her.
She turns and blinks at me as if coming back to the here-and-now. “Oh, this is just a practice match.”
I look down at the field. “So… those are all Pinecrest guys?”
“Yeah.” She points. “That’s Oz.”
“Huh.” I squint down at the guy running with the ball. “Cool.”
“I guess…” Willow doesn’t sound impressed. “But if he keeps fumbling the ball, he’s not going to be on the team much longer. Maybe if he stops partying and startspracticing, we might have a shot against Lavender this year.”
Wow.
I’ve never heard Willow sound this… feisty before. It’s a good look on her. In fact, ever since that day I overheard Owen asking her out to some ball or whatever, she’s been super perky.
“Hey, so… what’s this dance thing you’re going to with Owen?”
Willow turns to look at me with glowing eyes. “The Firefly Ball? Oh,God, Evie, it’s amazing.”
I already regret asking.
“There was a massive fire in 1808. Everything except the town hall burnt down. So every year, we hold the Firefly Ball to commemorate everyone who died in the fire.”
“That’s… grim.”
